If you happen to be in Cobh on Saturday morning next, 9th December, you will see a crowd gathered outside the Old Town Hall, next to the Well House Bar. You may very well wonder what they are doing there.
They will be there to remember a black day, 75 years ago, when the town of Cobh lost five of its citizens; John Higgins of Connelly Street, Francis Lloyd of King’s Street, Willie Duggan of Bellview, Frank Powell of Plunket Terrace, and Patrick Wilshaw of The Mall. They were all young men.
They lost their lives in the service of the State in an incident in Cork Harbour on 12th December 1942.
There are many who feel that this tragedy needs to be remembered but unfortunately, RTE’s Seacapes radio programme is not one of them. Seascapes is produced in Cork covering maritime matters, but obviously the Cork Harbour Tragedy, that occurred on its door step, is of little interest to them.
Having recorded a piece for the show to promote the event, I received an email from Fergal Keane, presenter of Seascapes, to say “Sorry for the delay and to tell you that I will be unable to use the interview. The brief I have been given is to move the programme more away from historical issues and to bring it out an about more.”
So, our story is not interesting enough for the listeners.
A promotion piece for one of their recent programmes declared; “On tonight’s programme, Fergal Keane speaks to members of the Connaught Angling Council about a decision by Inland Fisheries to review their policy of culling pike on Lough Corrib; more reflections from Dave Hennessy on his four-year around the world trip; and the plans to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Mail Boat Leinster next year.”
Fascinating stuff.
If, unlike Seascapes, you would like to know more about this tragic story, you can read it here: http://www.trevorlaffan.com/?p=391
Oglaigh Naisiunta na hEireann are organising the ceremony next Saturday, beginning with Mass in St. Colman’s Cathedral at 10.00am. Following that, wreaths will be laid outside the Old Town Hall, on behalf of the relatives of the deceased, Irish Naval Service, Cobh Branch ONE, Cork Harbour Pilot Boat Crews, Royal Naval Association and the National Maritime College of Ireland.
Good evening Trevor. Same old problem inCobh, no pull. A town of 10,000 people ?, and no TD. The relatives of those who drowned are part and parcel of Cobh, ( daughter of one still going strong ) and are well known. It would be a nice gesture if our Council members come along Saturday morning and paid their respects, after all, an awful lot of us locals earned our living as seamen , some of whom sailed on the Irish Poplar ( name sake? ) in later years.
Hi Jack, the lads behind this are trying to get official recognition for the tragedy and have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes. They’re a determined bunch so I imagine they’ll stick with it. Hopefully they’ll get a few to attend on Saturday. Unfortunately Seascapes wouldn’t come on board. Cheers